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Saturday, October 31, 2015

As the host of her own
television news show, Faith Marin works to expose the truth for her
viewers. But in her personal life, she's anchored her world with firm
boundaries in order to hide a family history she'd like to forget. Her
pro bass fisherman husband Geary's life is an open book, and
unfortunately his busybody family doesn't know the meaning of
boundaries. Deception and crippling differences soon derail their tender
relationship, leading Faith to believe her only option is to end the
marriage. But while divorce papers sit on her desk waiting to be signed,
tragedy strikes and her heartrending decision is interrupted. With her
life in the balance, Faith finds that the one she has been shutting out
may be the very one she cannot bear to lose.About The Author

Kellie Coates Gilbert is a former legal investigator and trial paralegal, and the author of A Woman of Fortune and Where Rivers Part.
Gilbert crafts her emotionally charged stories about women in
life-changing circumstances in Dallas, Texas, where she lives with her
husband.

From the first page of the book I could not stop turning, such a great
story, and a reminder to all that that grass is not always green on the
other side of the fence. We don’t all grow up in the perfect Christian
home, and not all are loved as children. We also see how evil walks this
world, and none are safe, except if we are saved and know where we are
going.We have a young woman, an over achiever, determined not to let
anyone get beyond the façade that she has put in place. She is
conquering the world with her bright personality and determination.Girl
meets boy in while doing one of her brilliant news reports she falls in
the water and is rescued by a man of her dreams, Prince Charming. He is
actually a professional bass and grew up completely different than our
reporter Faith.Prince Charming, Geary, is a family man first and
foremost, ever though he is not married, his family comes first. What
can these two entirely different people have in common, besides a
physical attraction?Have your tissues handy, there is a serious
happening her that sure mimic’s real life in a tragic way. If we could
all go back in time, none of these things would happen, but this is a
fallen world we live in.The characters presented here seemed so
real, and they probably do exist somewhere. I hated to leave the story
as it ended, and your mind will try to bring it to the future. Don’t
miss this one!I received this book through Revell’s Book Blogger Tour and was not required to give a positive review.

Friday, October 30, 2015

Anji Baard Moen, a
recent widow, returns from Norway with her children. She quickly settles
back into life in Blessing, teaching Norwegian history in the high
school and writing articles for the Blessing Gazette. When tragedy
strikes, Anji steps in to run the newspaper and soon finds a kindred
spirit in the widower who owns the printing press. As they spend time
together, Anji wonders if there's something more than friendship growing
between them.

But Anji has also caught the eye of a recent
arrival to Blessing. He has put his carpentry skills to good use on the
town's building projects, including Anji's house. But Anji is torn
between her feelings of loyalty to someone who needs her and the chance
to build a new life with this intriguing newcomer.

Where will her choice take her?

About The Author

Lauraine Snelling is the award-winning author of over 70 books,
fiction and nonfiction, for adults and young adults. Her books have sold
nearly 5 million copies. Besides writing books and articles, she
teaches at writers' conferences across the country. She and her husband
make their home in Tehachapi, California.

I felt like I was home again, placing myself back in Blessing, ND, and
with familiar family and friends. Mor makes everyone feel like they are
her family, she takes us all under her wings.Can you imagine looking
out your window and seeing an elephant? That is the sight that greeted
these residents one fateful day when the circus came to town. Things are
never the same here after this visit, and we soon learn that other
towns turned them away.We also have Anji whom appears to be in love
with Thomas, but is she willing to completely change her life? Also some
of the other woman we have come to call family will have their lives
changed forever, because of their love of God their fellow man.I
still am looking for some answers, what will happen to Clara, if that is
really her name, and the baby? Come along for another wonderful visit,
and hopefully we will be back real soon.I received this book through Net Galley and Bethany House Publishers, and was not required to give a positive review.

The theme of this hop is books I'm grateful I've read, and there sure are a lot of them. I could fill the page and more, which I'm sure you could do also. We all have some special books that linger a lot longer after that last page is turned. In that theme maybe there is a sequel to that book you want to read, or a new book by that author. So I'm offering a $10 Amazon Gift Card for you to choose a new book. Good Luck and please leave a comment with your contact information.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Shining coat flashing in the sun. Silky mane rippling in the wind. A toss of the head and the stamp of a hoof.Few
of God's creatures are as noble and soul-stirring as the horse. Even
those of us who aren't lucky enough to have horses of our own seem to
have an innate desire to connect with these beautiful, regal beasts. As
children we read stories about them, collected models of them, and
tacked posters of them up on our walls. Throughout history they have
carried us and calmed us, pulled our loads and pulled at our
heartstrings. They give us a taste of wildness and yet make us feel at
home.

In this inspiring collection, you'll meet horses who show
up at the right time, who help their humans learn important truths, and
who rescue the very people who rescued them. These true stories of
horses and the people who love them are sometimes touching, sometimes
humorous, and sometimes miraculous. Always they are inspiring, like the
horses themselves. They will touch your heart, renew your spirit, and
show you that surely God had us in mind when he created these
magnificent creatures.Amazon About The Author Callie Smith Grant is the editor of A Prince among Dogs and A Dickens of a Cat.
She is also the author of several nonfiction books for young readers
and adults as well as many animal-themed stories and poems which can be
seen in Guideposts anthologies and in magazines such as Small Farmers Journal.

My Review

Such beautiful and intelligent animals that I have always admired and so I chose to review this book.
As
you begin each short story will touch your heart, and you might want to
have the tissues handy. What a blessing in their lives these graceful
animals are, well most are!
There is a magical connection between
these animals and humans, and when these individual horses enter the
human’s lives, it seems something wonderful is about to happen. Memories
that follow them for the remainder of their lives, and they share them
with us in such moving stories.
They seem to arrive and be there
with these people when they need them the most, and have a calming and
loving effect on them. This book is going to touch in special ways, and
you will see God’s hand in this, he made these amazing animals. Once you
open that first page and begin your journey, your going to want to keep
reading on to the next and then the next.
I received this book through Revell Blogger Book Tours and was not required to give a positive review.

She thought she had
married her soulmate. But when Carol Kennedy could no longer tolerate
her husband's reckless womanizing and out-of-control spending,
the artist, therapist and mother of two had to let him go. Just weeks
after their divorce, Carol was found in her Arizona ranch
home--bludgeoned to death with a golf club. Her ex, Steven DeMocker, was
the prime suspect. Yet it took the authorities months to arrest
him--and years to convict. . .

Packed with twists and turns, this
powerful real-life account reveals every bizarre detail of this
compelling case. Bestselling author and award-winning journalist Caitlin
Rother presents an unforgettable story of love turned to obsession,
and a family torn apart forever.

New York Times bestselling author Caitlin Rother has written or co-authored nine books: Her latest, I'll Take Care of You, as well as Lost Girls, Poisoned Love, Dead Reckoning, Body Parts, Twisted Triangle, Deadly Devotion, Naked Addiction, and My Life, Deleted.

Rother, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, worked as an investigative reporter at
daily newspapers for nineteen years before deciding to write books
full-time. Her work has been published in Cosmopolitan, the Los Angeles Times, The San Diego Union-Tribune, the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Huffington Post and The Daily Beast. She has appeared dozens of times as a crime expert on Nancy Grace, the Jay Thomas Show, Investigation Discovery, E!, HLN, the Oxygen Network, Greta Van Susteren’s On the Record, XM Radio, America at Night, CSPAN and various PBS radio and TV affiliates.

Rother works as a book doctor/publishing and research consultant and
teaches narrative non-fiction writing at UCSD Extension and San Diego
Writers, Ink. Please visit her website at http://caitlinrother.com

My Review

I’ve just finished reading Then No One Can Have Her , and as I have read
Caitlin Rother’s books before, and loved them, this one did not
disappoint, except that Carol died.
What a long journey for justice
in this case, and the author has documented so well, that you feel your
living with these people on a daily basis. When you see pictures of this
couple, you see what looks like a loving solid unit, and they called
each other their soul mates. What you can’t see is Steven DeMocker
sexual addiction and his multiple affairs, sometimes more than one woman
at a time.
We look at this story through Caitlin’s eyes and all the
research and hours of investigation she put to pull out all of the
facts. We feel Steven’s daughter’s pain at what has happened to their
mother, and then what their father asks of them. How do you deal with
the fact that your father is accused of murdering your mother? Breaks my
heart.
Wait until you see the lengths Steven goes to implicate
another person, including putting his daughter in legal trouble,
possible jail time. To say he is a “Me” person is putting it bluntly; he
uses everyone, including his family, which included his parents. His
retired father even had to go back to work to help pay his mounting
legal fees.
Has justice been served, lets hope so, nothing will ever
bring Carol back, and maybe he is satisfied with that, as the book title
points out. We will never know what makes a person act like Steven
does, but at least he is behind bars.
I received this book from the Author, and was not required to give a positive review.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

“It is by no means an
irrational fancy that, in a future existence, we shall look upon what we
think of as our present existence, as a dream." Edgar Allan Poe

Fate
sometimes conspires to right a decades-old wrong. And the 6.8
earthquake that strikes Southern California one warm March night is the
fateful event that brings family therapist Ann Hart and trauma
specialist Ted McConaughy back together.In search of her cell phone
after the tremor, Ann picks up a shard of vintage cut glass from a
collection she and her husband gathered during the four years of their
marriage. For the millionth time she thinks about the day six years ago
when he disappeared on a search and rescue mission in the Sierra
foothills. Sitting atop the shattered crystal, a small silver cigar
lighter glistens in the beam of her flashlight. Gently she returns the
Victorian piece to the shelf. What does it mean that something she and
Ted, her ex-fiancé, bought together survived when Alex’s beautiful glass
is smashed to dust? Ann tells herself that it doesn’t mean anything
more than glass breaks and silver doesn’t.

Sara Jane
McConaughy has never experienced a strong earthquake, and as her father
comforts his 16-year-old daughter, his mind is flooded with memories of
the Northridge quake in 1994. He was living with his fiancée, his
ex-fiancée, and even after all these years he doesn’t know what caused
the split, but he always loved her. And he’d been sure she loved him.

Volunteering
with the American Red Cross in the aftermath of the earthquake brings
Ann and Ted face-to-face for the first time since their break-up, twenty
years ago. Angry, flustered, excited, and bewildered by Ted’s sudden
appearance and unusual behavior while she’s teaching a small group of
people relaxing exercises, Ann demands he leave. Just as excited and
bewildered, Ted rushes away. His exit leaves both of them wondering
about … everything.

The earthquake (or is it seeing Ann?)
ignites a series of recurring dreams peopled by total strangers in
places Ted has never been. Accompanied by short lapses of time and
sleepwalking, the dreams take a heavy toll on his waking hours. Sara
Jane’s concern sends Ted on a quest to discover the cause and find a
cure. When all medical possibilities are exhausted, he turns to a
colleague, whose diagnosis leaves Ted more baffled than ever. Tom
Alderman believes that the dreams are memories of past lives. The lives
live in his subconscious, and the cure is hypnotherapy.

After
several months of suffering with these increasingly emotional recurring
dreams, Ted turns to Ann for help. One of Ann’s specialties is
hypnotherapy and since he must be able to trust the hypnotist, Ann is
his only salvation. Ann’s agreement to try and help (at the urging of a
mutual friend) sends her carefully regimented and calm life into
complete turmoil.The garden gate they pass through together sends
them on a journey that defies time and reason, forcing them to rethink
their past, present, and future. Now, each must reconsider their
capacity for love and forgiveness.

Things are not always what they seem.

About The Author

Sally Smith O’Rourke, a native Californian, lives in a small
Victorian village in southern California. She is the author of the much
acclaimed Yours Affectionately, Jane Austen, her first solo novel. She
is also co-author with her late husband Michael O’Rourke (aka F. M.
O’Rourke) of The Man Who Loved Jane Austen (Kensington Books, 2006), The
Maidenstone Lighthouse (Kensington Books, 2007), and Christmas at Sea
Pines Cottage (Kensington Books, 2009).
Previously, Sally worked on network television, feature films, and
documentaries in science, medicine, and aviation. She owned and operated
a medical advertising company with her late husband where they produced
and wrote teaching films for major medical and surgical manufacturing
companies. Additionally, they collaborated on two feature films (direct
to video).
In addition to writing every day, she works as a surgical scrub nurse
and enjoys sewing, cooking, baking, candy making, cake decorating, and
spending time with nieces, nephews, step-children, and grandchildren.

My Review

Ann Hart is so happy and so in love with her husband Alex as the book
opens, and then the unthinkable and the world she has collapses. At the
same time an old love Ted has been living a nightmare, literally almost
every night, and having out of body experiences.While I enjoyed this
story and read it as rather a fairy tale, there are some who believe in
reincarnation, which I do not. This story is based on multiple lives
inhabiting Ted’s body, one is a sadist and the other is a heartbroken
man who looses his wife on the voyage from Scotland to Antiqua.This
is what puts Ted back into Ann’s life, they are both Doctors she a
family specialist and he a trauma specialist and they were previously
engagedI really loved Ted’s spunky and smart teenage daughter Sara
Jane, she sure has a lot of insight and good advice. I liked this rather
fantasy read, and brings to light a lot of what went on in the
beginnings of this Country.I received this book through I Am A Reader, Not A Writer Blog Tour, and was not required to give a positive review.

A Boy Named Mu, an African Journey, and You
Mu, a ten-year-old orphan, has lived his entire life in the heart of
Africa. For as long as he can remember he has served in the household of
a great-uncle where he is unloved and ignored. In his drudgery-filled
life, Mu has little hope of happiness, and little hope that anything
will ever change.
But one day, everything does change. On his way to draw water one
morning, Mu is astonished when a chameleon greets him by name and
announces that they will embark on a quest together. And what a quest it
turns out to be! Mu faces danger and finds unexpected allies as they
journey through a fascinating and ever-changing landscape.A Chameleon, a Boy, and a Quest blends magical realism with a
compelling story. The exciting story line combines an orphan’s journey
to find a home with the plight of child soldiers and the dangers of the
Ebola virus and, along the way, highlights universal themes of
integrity, loyalty, faith, and love. Written by long-time medical
missionary J. A. Myrhe, the artful story is laced with subtle gospel
themes and handles cross-cultural issues with grace and sensitivity.
Kids will encounter good and evil and learn the truth about hope,
happiness, and what it means to be human in this page-turning first book
in a new series.
—A page-turning children’s action and adventure story set in a fictional African land
—Blends magical realism and compelling storytelling with gospel themes to draw kids gently into the truth
—Deals with real-life but (seemingly) faraway themes like the plight of
orphans, the duties of child soldiers, and the reality of the Ebola
virus
—Written by a long-time medical missionary to Africa who handles cross-cultural issues with grace, sensitivity, and love

J. A. Myhre serves as a doctor with Serge in East Africa where she
has worked for over two decades. She is passionate about health care for
the poor, training local doctors and nurses, promoting childhood
nutrition and development, and being the hands of Jesus in the hardest
places. She is married to her best friend and colleague Scott, and
together they have raised four children for whom many of her stories
were written as Christmas presents.
Find out more about J.A. at http://paradoxuganda.blogspot.com.

https://youtu.be/a2EMxpcVERY

My Review

The author states that she wrote this wonderful story for her four
children as a Christmas gift, and what a wonderful gift this was.
Written from her heart and savored over the Christmas week.Written
so children can understand and enjoy with the talking creatures, they
are drawn into this of Good vs. Evil, and how easy and innocently one
can be drawn to the evil side.The chameleon is such a wonderful
creature, and who wouldn’t want to have one of their own? Tita as he is
called by Mu, our little mistreated orphaned boy, who sure could use
this fellow in his young life, and loved how he found him on the
poinsettia plant Since loosing his parents he has been living as a
slave for his Uncle’s family, he finds Tita, and is offered a wonderful
quest. Things are not always as they appear and things and perceptions
changed in the blink of an eye. There is the vicious dog that ends up
saving Mu’s life, and in the end he ends up saving his soul.Once you start this story your children are not going to want you to stop, and your not going to want to either.I received this book through Litfust Publicity Books Tours and was not required to give a positive review.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini celebrates
Christmas, past and present, with a wondrous novel inspired by the
classic poem “Christmas Bells,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

I heard the bells on Christmas Day/ Their old familiar carols
play/ And wild and sweet/ The words repeat/Of peace on earth, good-will
to men!

In 1860, the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow family
celebrated Christmas at Craigie House, their home in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. The publication of Longfellow’s classic Revolutionary War
poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” was less than a month hence, and the
country’s grave political unrest weighed heavily on his mind. Yet with
his beloved wife, Fanny, and their five adored children at his side, the
delights of the season prevailed.

In present-day Boston, a
dedicated teacher in the Watertown public school system is stunned by
somber holiday tidings. Sophia’s music program has been sacrificed to
budget cuts, and she worries not only about her impending unemployment
but also about the consequences to her underprivileged students. At the
church where she volunteers as music director, Sophia tries to forget
her cares as she leads the children’s choir in rehearsal for a Christmas
Eve concert. Inspired to honor a local artist, Sophia has chosen a
carol set to a poem by Longfellow, moved by the glorious words he penned
one Christmas Day long ago, even as he suffered great loss.

Christmas Bells chronicles
the events of 1863, when the peace and contentment
of Longfellow’s family circle was suddenly, tragically broken, cutting
even deeper than the privations of wartime. Through the pain of profound
loss and hardship, Longfellow’s patriotism never failed, nor did the
power of his language. “Christmas Bells,” the poem he wrote that
holiday, lives on, spoken as verse and sung as a hymn.

Jennifer
Chiaverini’s resonant and heartfelt novel for the season reminds us why
we must continue to hear glad tidings, even as we are tested by strife.
Reading Christmas Bells evokes the resplendent joy of a chorus of voices raised in reverent song.

Jennifer Chiaverini is the New
York Times bestselling author of several acclaimed historical novels and
the beloved Elm Creek Quilts series, as well as six collections of
quilt patterns inspired by her books. A graduate of the University of
Notre Dame and the University of Chicago, she lives with her husband and
two sons in Madison, Wisconsin. About her historical fiction, the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes, "In addition to simply being
fascinating stories, these novels go a long way in capturing the texture
of life for women, rich and poor, black and white, in those perilous
years."

My Review

Oh how I love being back in Willow Ridge and being with and catching up
with old friends, and don’t worry if this is your first book, as soon as
a new person arrives they are introduced to the community and are told
about these individuals, so you will not be lost, but do yourself and
awesome favor and read the other books, you won’t be disappointed.As
I finished this book with most of my questions answered I had a feeling
of loss, and I wanted more, not that I didn’t have a fair idea of what
was happening, but because I felt the loss of some dear friends and
didn’t want to let them go.The book spans decades and with
Longfellow’s beautiful I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day, and how this
poem spans the decades touching lives. We are spanning yearss from when
Henry conceived this beautiful verse to present day when it is still
touching and influencing lives.You will see the heart break in
Longfellow’s life and how much he loved his family, from his time he
marries, until with thoughts of his wife he creates these beautiful
words. His church St Margaret’s is the setting for most of this book,
and love how it touches the lives of so many people.You won’t go
wrong by picking this one up, as I previously stated I loved reading
this one, and it will be with me for a long time.

I received this book through Edelweiss and the Publisher Dutton, and was not required to give a positive review.

In Laurel Ridge, Pennsylvania, a community once united must suspect one of their own

Amish
quilter Sarah Bitler's dreams no longer feature a husband and family.
Instead, she searches for success in the quilt shop within Blackburn
House, a place once tarnished with deadly secrets. She refuses to let
the past influence her future…until an ominous fire forces them to
collide.

Firefighter Aaron King was the first to touch Sarah's
heart—and the first to break it. Now a widower and father of two small
girls, his return to Sarah's life brings her buried feelings to the
surface. As a string of horrific incidents tears apart their community,
an arsonist's wrath threatens to destroy them all. With Aaron as the
only suspect, Sarah must follow her instincts to find the truth. But to
protect an innocent man, she might risk her heart to Aaron again…and
risk her life to an unknown killer.

Marta Perry is a Pennsylvania-based author of over 35 novels, many of
them inspirational romances. She uses her rural Pennsylvania life and
her Pennsylvania Dutch heritage in writing her books, especially in her
Pleasant Valley Amish series for Berkley Books and her new Amish-set
suspense series for HQN Books.
Marta and her husband live in a
centuries-old farmhouse in a quiet central Pennsylvania valley. They
have three grown children and six beautiful grandchildren, and when
she's not busy writing her next book, she's usually trying to keep up
with her gardening, baking for church events, or visiting those
beautiful grandkids.

My Review

We are back in Laurel Ridge and are reunited with Sarah Bitler and
Allison Standish, and more of the characters we came to love in Where
Secrets Sleep.Love how Allison is so accepted by Sarah’s Amish
family, and her Grandmother seems to adore her, but this story is really
Sarah’s. Sarah grew up with her Amish family and lots of friends
nearby, particularly Aaron King, he was the one she had wanted to marry.
Now she is considered an old maid in her community, she is in her
thirties, and when now widower Aaron returns to his family with his two
young daughters, she hopes.This story includes horrific barn fires,
there is a sever drought in the area, and someone is taking advantage of
the situation, but why? Then who ever are doing this thinks Sarah knows
who this person is, and her life becomes in danger.There is a side
story about missing quilts, and a mystery of where a very valuable one
is. Yes, Sarah and Allison run a quilt shop, and another challenge is
presented and they accept it head on. What do barn fires and missing
quilts have to do with each other, you are about to find out, and we
hope it is in time to stop the fires and save Sarah’s life. We continue
with Allison’s romance and hope for a new one with Sarah and Aaron, if
only he will recognize what he is missing.Don’t miss this one, although it is the second book, it can be read alone, a real page-turner.I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher HQN Books, and was not required to give a positive review.

Mary
Crofter's first trip on the water was just after her first birthday,
when her parents came from her birthplace in Kilwa to Portsmouth. She's
been on several trips from Portsmouth to London and other places since.
She loves the water and the water seems to love her. Can she survive on
the water? Will people ever take seriously a GIRL as a sailor? Will she
ever come off the water? If she does, will the lure of the ocean draw her back?

About The Author

Mike
Hartner was born in Miami in 1965. He’s traveled much of the
continental United States. He has several years post secondary
education, and experience teaching and tutoring young adults. Hartner
has owned and run a computer firm for more than twenty-five years. He
now lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with his wife and
child. They share the neighborhood and their son with his maternal
grandparents.

I looked upon the gray waters that surrounded me. To the west it was
dark and cloudy, the wind blustering. But as I braced myself against
the gale hitting full force against my peacoat, I smiled.
It was fitting that I was here, and nothing could ever convince me
otherwise. I’d been birthed on land but it wasn’t long afterward that I
was on the water—and acquiring my sea legs. From the time I could
walk, I learned to balance myself on the uneven deck. And later to climb
the gnarly spars and ultimately the sayles. My parents taught me my
numbers and to read and write as well. Numbers, well, was my best
subject, and I was good at that. But my time at sea was what I loved
the most. In truth, the only fun I remember in my childhood was when
they took me on our merchant ship from our home in Portsmouth to London
or to Bristol. It wasn’t the location that I liked or the end of the
journey; no, for me it was the sayling, standing on the deck, listening
to the wind, watching the ocean and the clouds and . . . late at night .
. . the stars. I wanted to be on the sea forever, and I knew this from
my very first time aboard ship.
I remember very well every one of those trips, because during each
voyage I would close my eyes and concentrate, and it was as if I were
talking to the water. And through a combination of waves and the ship’s
motion, it felt as if the sea was in turn communicating with me.
I recall all of the journeys with my father and his good friend,
Captain Jose. The saylors on those ships were always good to me, and I
came to respect all of them. They taught me sayling while they went
about their own jobs. Even as a little kid I was taught how to tie
knots. And when I was eleven they instructed me on how to throw knives
and swing a cutlass. Soon afterward I was taught how to prime, load,
and shoot a musket. But I turned up my nose at the musket, even the
smaller flintlock pistols. To me, there was no honor in this sort of
fight. No great talent was needed to shoot somebody. Any idiot could
pull a trigger. In my mind, it required real skill to defeat a man, or
woman for that matter, with a cutlass. And, yes, I will take up swords
against a woman. Because, you see, I am one also.
Captain Jose had been a friend of the family since before I was
born. He’d sayled with my father, James, and my mother, Rosalind. I
heard the stories of the trip from Kilwa, where I was born, and then to
Portsmouth, where we now live. I don’t know how they originally met
because I haven’t been told that yet, but Captain Jose is so close to
the family that I’ve always called him Uncle Jose or Uncle for short.
Currently, I am not quite twelve years old, thin as a rail, a little
over eleven hands high, and maybe weighing four stone soaking wet. My
hair is long enough to wear tied behind so it looks like the tail on a
pony, but many men wear their hair the same way, so no one would know I
was a girl just by looking at me.
I was in the office of Crofter Shipping Yards one day when Uncle Jose
called me to him said, “Come over here and sit down.” He was always so
nice to me that I never hesitated at any request of his, so I took a
seat next to him. He gave me a funny look, kind of sly but not really
since he smiled right away. “I’ve already talked to your parents, and
both James and Rosalind agree with me.”
I looked at him and fidgeted, not having a clue what he was going to say next.
“You’ve sayled with your father and me all your life. We brought you
to Portsmouth on a carrack many years ago. You’ve been on the caravel
we sayled to Le Havre and on a special boat too, a cog—the one with just
one sayle—when we sayled to London.”
I nodded at him, but I was confused. Had I done something wrong?
“Mary, there is a caravel that will be leaving these shipping yards
in a little over a week. It’s headed to the north of Scotland. Seldom
do pirates sayle these waters, so other than weather it will be
relatively safe and . . .” My eyes widened. Was I getting the right
message? Was he really doing this? Was he really going to make my
dream come true? “If you should be interested, I can schedule you to
take your sayling tests in the next few days so you can be on that
caravel and start out as part of the crew on this trip. This way, you
can see if sayling is really what you want to do.”
I threw myself at Uncle Jose. “Yes, yes. Please, yes.”
He laughed. “Then let’s go get you some sayling clothes and set you
up to crew on your very first ship. Then I’ll introduce you to the
captain.” I jumped up from my chair but Uncle Jose pointed to me so
I’d retake my seat. His face turned solemn, almost to a frown.
“There’s something we need to discuss, and this won’t be easy to talk
about. I brought this up this with your parents, and they told me to go
ahead and tell you.”
Uncle Jose’s change of attitude was so great that I was startled. “I don’t understand.”
“I’ve already spoken to the captain, since I assumed you’d say yes.
And he assured me that his main crew will respect you as a girl and also
as a Crofter. But there are always new men brought on board. And even
though the regular crew is honorable as far as this captain knows, they
are still men of the sea. Mary, do you understand what I’m saying to
you?”
“Your crew was always wonderful to me.” As soon as I said this I started to think back to all the times the men had helped me.
“You were a young girl who was the daughter of the owner of the ship,
and I was the captain who knew each man well. If anyone had stepped
out of line, he would have been run through or thrown overboard. This
will be different, and you must understand that you are older now,
almost a woman if you aren’t already. I don’t know how else to put it,
but to say you will have to be on your guard at all times. The captain
will have a couple of his most trusted men watching over you, but even a
caravel is a big enough boat that . . . well, no person can be looked
after day and night.”
I hadn’t given what Uncle Jose was talking about a single thought,
but I wasn’t scared. “I’m not saying I can take down a saylor, but I
know how to defend myself, and Mother has taught me how to hurt a man
where it hurts the most.”
Uncle Jose let out a muffled laugh that might’ve been a groan.
“Always know who’s around you, and be aware that you’re going to
constantly have to prove yourself.”
“Because I’m a girl?” I snapped, mad that I’d done so at Uncle Jose.
“Yes,” he came back just as fast, but then he smiled and showed his
big teeth. “Just be aware that nothing I have said was with the intent
of trying to talk you off the boat. I just don’t want you—”
“Uncle Jose, I’ve heard the men talk on the boats since I was first
able to walk the decks. Sometimes I’d hear things that I know I wasn’t
supposed to, and as I got older many saylors didn’t even think I was not
one of them, so I’m not unaware that men are going to be men at times.
I can handle myself, I promise.”
“Let us hope you don’t have to.” He stared hard at me. “At least with the crew.”

Friday, October 23, 2015

When Kate Davidson gets an offer to teach yoga classes to wedding
guests at the Elysian Springs resort, she jumps at the opportunity, even
though it means being forced to endure the wedding ceremony of the
center’s two caretakers.
Avoiding the M-word turns out to be the least of Kate’s problems when
a wedding guest is found floating face-down in the resort’s hot tub,
shortly after a loud, public (and somewhat embarrassing) fight with
Kate. The police pick Kate as their number-one suspect, so she’s forced
to team up with boyfriend Michael, best friend Rene, and German shepherd
sidekick Bella to find the real killer. But they’ll have to solve the
murder before the police arrest Kate, or her next gig may last a
lifetime–behind bars.

Series: Downward Dog Mysteries (Book 2)

Paperback

Publisher: Midnight Ink (January 8, 2015)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0738742090

ISBN-13: 978-0738742090

About The Author

Tracy Weber is the author of the
award-winning Downward Dog Mysteries series featuring yoga teacher Kate
and her feisty German shepherd, Bella. Tracy loves sharing her passion
for yoga and animals in any form possible. The second book in her
series, A Killer Retreat, is available January 8, 2015, by Midnight Ink.

Tracy and her husband live in Seattle
with their challenging yet amazing German shepherd Tasha. When she’s not
writing, Tracy spends her time teaching yoga, walking Tasha, and
sipping Blackthorn cider at her favorite ale house.

What could possibly go wrong, Kate Davidson and her boyfriend Michael,
along with Bella her German Shepherd, have been invited to a 5 Star
resort that is having an opening with the new owner’s wedding. When
they arrive the love the splendor of everything, until they go to their
cottage, with has not been updated, and has one bed and a pull out
couch. Thank goodness her friends René and Sam couldn’t make it. Ummm
until they arrive and now we have a crowded and no privacy cabin, with
no other accommodations available.There is a lot of action here, and
when we meet Monica, even before we arrive on the Island, there isn’t a
lot to like. Even her Jack Russell is obnoxious, and she has made him
not very likeable. She leaves trouble in her wake, and unfortunately
this is a mystery and with Kate involved there has to be a murder.When
she tries to save the victim, she is arrested for murder, and then she
starts her sleuthing, and a page-turner we have in hand. A very hard
book to put down at any time, I had to get to the end to find all the
answers. Pick this one up, you won’t be disappointed!

I received this book through Pump Up Your Book Blogger Tours, and was not required to give a positive review.

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Readers of Jan
Karon’s Mitford series and Patrick Taylor’s Irish Country series will
fall in love with Jeff High’s funny, heartfelt Watervalley series.

The
pastoral charm of small-town Watervalley, Tennesse, can be deceptive,
as young Dr. Luke Bradford discovers when he’s caught in the fallout of a
decades-old conflict…

After a rocky start as
Watervalley’s only doctor, Luke Bradford has decided to stay in town,
honoring the three-year commitment he made to pay off his medical school
debts. But even as his friendships with the quirky townsfolk deepen,
and he pursues a romance with lovely schoolteacher Christine Chambers,
several military veterans’ emotional wounds trigger anger and unrest in
Watervalley.

At the center of the clash is the curmudgeonly
publisher of the local newspaper, Luther Whitmore. Luther grew up in
Watervalley, but he returned from combat in Vietnam a changed man. He
fenced in beautiful Moon Lake, posting “Keep Out” notices at the beloved
spot, and provokes the townspeople with his incendiary newspaper.

After growing up on a farm in rural Tennessee, Jeff High attained
degrees in literature and nursing. He is the three-time winner, in
fiction and poetry, of an annual writing contest held by Vanderbilt
Medical Center. He lived in Nashville for many years, and throughout the
country as a travel nurse, before returning to his original hometown,
near where he now works as an operating room RN in open-heart surgery.
He is the author of the Watervalley novels, including “More Things in
Heaven and Earth” and “Each Shining Hour.”
Find out more about Jeff at http://www.watervalleybooks.com/.

My Review

I really enjoyed reading this novel; it kept me entertained from the
beginning to the end. The author’s humor kept me giggling throughout the
pages, and example, he attends a three hour Mennonite wedding and
states, “ They aged right before my eyes.”While we see hurts on the
surface, there seems to be deeper meaning to all of them. While the book
is full of surprises that you won’t see coming, and happenings that
were impossible, or were they, there is deeper meaning, and they all
seem to be connected, but how?There are some characters here that
the author has made me love, and would love in my life, and there are
others that are even hard to like, but as we continue in the story,
people are not always as they appear.I love the setting for this
story, and the major theme is dear to my heart, Veterans, and love how
these town rallies. Come along for a really enjoyable time and good
humor, you won’t want to leave.I received this book through Litfuse Publicity Book Tours and was not required to give a positive review.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

A beautifully
illustrated telling of the Christmas nativity through the eyes of the
women who may have come to help Mary give birth. She would have known of
the prophesies about the Messiah to be born in her town. As a
spiritually atuned women, would she have known Jesus when he was born?
And what kind of experience might she have had?

Shad Driggs is a businessman who lives in Naperville, Illinois. He and
his wife, Darla, and their six children dedicate many hours in service
to their church and community. After very unexpected heart surgery in
2014, he was determined to share the beautiful Christmas story that had
formed in his head. The Midwife of Bethlehem is his first book.My Review

I’ve never thought about there being a Midwife at Jesus’s birth, but it makes sense when you think of it.
This
is a sweet read that will bring the miracle of Jesus’s birth and the
coming Christmas Season alive for you and your children. The book is
beautifully illustrated and well written, you will feel like you are at
the birth and in Bethlehem at the time of our Saviors arrival.
Everyone
knows that there were shepherds and animals that came to rejoice at the
birth, why wouldn’t there have been a midwife, or someone who was there
to help? Whether it is true or not this book is a great reminder of
what a gift we received.
The story is a different and yet the same
perspective of the Kings birth, and we experience the peace that
surrounds the area, and although the midwife might have wanted quiet for
the new mom after the birth, all were welcomed in to rejoice His birth.
A new Christian Holiday read to add to your collection for your family.
I received this book from The Cadence Group, and was not required to give a positive review.

Katrina Stoltzfus thought
she had life and love all figured out: she was going to marry John and
live happily ever after. Those plans started to crumble when her father
moved the family to Stoney Ridge, then completely collapsed when John
decided to marry someone else. Katrina is devastated. How could she have
felt so loved, yet been so deceived?

As she struggles to face a
future without him, a widow asks for her help to start a new business
and Katrina quickly agrees. She needs time to heal her broken heart, to
untangle her messy life, to find a purpose. What she doesn't need is
attention from Andy Miller, a farm hand who arrives at the widow's farm
just when help is most needed--and who always seems to say the right
thing, and be in the right place, at the right time. Is Andyfor real, or too good to be true? Deceived once before, Katrina is determined to keep her feelings in check.

When
a cascade of events is set in motion by some surprising information,
the little Amish church is turned upside down. Soon, everyone has a
stake in the outcome, and the community struggles to find the best
response to an imposter in their midst. Can they forgive even the most
deceitful deeds?

About The Author

Suzanne Woods Fisher is the bestselling author of the Inn
at Eagle Hill series, Lancaster County Secrets series, and the Stoney
Ridge Seasons series, as well as nonfiction books about the Amish,
including "Amish Peace." She is also the coauthor of an Amish children's
series, The Adventures of Lily Lapp. Her interest in the Anabaptist
cultures can be directly traced to her grandfather, who was raised in
the Old Order German Baptist Brethren Church in Franklin County,
Pennsylvania. Suzanne is a Carol Award winner and a Christy Award
finalist. She is a columnist for Christian Post and Cooking & Such
magazines. She lives in California.

The Imposter is the title of this book and so through out the story I’m
looking for who the imposter is, and my thoughts kept changing, first I
was sure it was one, and then my thoughts shifted to another, you will
be really surprised as to whom it is.After loosing his wife,
Preacher David Stolzfus has moved his family to Stoney Ridge, and is
gradually putting his life back together, with the pain of her passing
always in the background. We follow his family, in fact all of them in
their daily lives, and focus and several stories at once. You will come
to know them quite well by the end of the book!There are some really
sweet happenings here, and also a real surprise a lot of deceit going
on in this Amish Community. I was pleased with the surprises that went
on here, and disappointed with the gossiping Glick woman, such joy they
get out of others hurts. They sure end up getting their comeuppance in a
startling way, and in the end we are still waiting for a lot of
answers. At least until next spring when the next book is due out, and I
for one cannot wait!You will not regret picking this entertaining, page-turner, book up, and will be with me in wanting more!I received this book through Revells Book Blogger Program, and was not required to give a positive review.